The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) in August 2025 approved an application submitted by MTC and Caltrans to change the hours of operation for the bicycle and pedestrian path on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and to make permanent the peak-period third eastbound traffic lane on the bridge's lower deck.
Beginning Oct. 27, 2025, the space on the right side of the upper deck now occupied by the bike/ped path will be used as a highway shoulder lane on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well as on Thursday mornings, with the barrier moved to accommodate bike/ped use on Thursday afternoons and all day on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and select holidays.
A free shuttle will be available to carry bicyclists and pedestrians across the bridge between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on days when the path is closed.
MTC, the Bay Area Toll Authority and Caltrans, as part of a design alternative assessment now known as the Westbound Improvement Project, will collect data on motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian travel through the Richmond-San Rafael corridor to study the feasibility of establishing a part-time bus/carpool lane and a part-time bike/ped path on the upper deck.
Conditions for BCDC's approval of the permit application sought by MTC, BATA and Caltrans include a requirement that the applicants establish preliminary performance thresholds for the feasibility study and establish the methodology by which the equity analysis will be conducted, and that these thresholds and the methodology be presented to BCDC for approval by May 2026.
More information about yesterday's BCDC vote and the operational changes coming to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bike/ped path may be found on the BCDC website.
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